Israel's military said yesterday it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in an air strike on southern Lebanon as the Iran-backed movement said it thwarted an Israeli advance at the border.

Israel said this week its troops had started "ground raids" into parts of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, after days of heavy bombardment on areas across the country where the group holds sway.

The bombing has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic and political crisis.

Israel, at war in Gaza since Hamas's October 7 attack, says it shifted its focus to secure its northern border and ensure the safe return of more than 60,000 people who fled Hezbollah attacks over the past year.

On the Gaza front, it said a strike three months ago killed three senior Hamas leaders, including Rahwi Mushtaha, the head of the militant movement's government in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

In Lebanon, it said the 15 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Bint Jbeil.

Israel told Lebanese to evacuate more than 20 villages and the city of Nabatiyeh.

Hezbollah said it fought off a bid by Israeli troops to advance at Fatima's Gate on the border.

It also said it set off two explosive devices against advancing Israeli forces as it kept up its cross-border strikes, firing a barrage of rockets at the city of Tiberias

Earlier in the day, Israel carried out a deadly air raid in downtown Beirut after eight of its ground troops were killed in combat near the border. The strike hit a Hezbollah emergency services rescue facility, killing seven workers.

Israel has yet to comment on the strike, but said it had hit 200 Hezbollah targets "in Lebanese territory."

The strike came after the killing of the eight soldiers at the border and Iran's launching its second, and largest, direct missile attack on Israel, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Tehran would pay.

President Joe Biden said the United States was "fully supportive" of the ally but ruled out supporting a strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

Iran, which arms and funds Lebanon's Hezbollah, said it would step up its response if Israel counterattacked.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

A general view of south Lebanon in the wake of air strikes that leave a resident of Moawwad surveying the loss of his neighborhood, right. aFP

Central Beirut hit amid fierce border fighting